Schedule

Workshop sign-up will open on Sunday, July 2nd at 5 P.M. EST (2 P.M. Pacific).

You must be registered for the festival to sign up for workshops.

*Please note that this schedule is tentative! We will be adding more workshops in the coming weeks.

For more information about our online Sched system and a workshop sign-up how-to, please visit our FAQ page here. Finally, we ask that when signing up, you only sign up for a workshop once, even if it is listed twice!

Daily Schedule

Aug 16: Check in 4-6pm, dinner 6-7pm, opening ceremonies 7:30-9pm

Aug 17-19: Open warm up 8-9am, daily activities, shows, etc 9am-10pm

Aug 20th: Activities 9am-12 noon, Lunch 12-1pm.

Housing and Travel

We expect festival goers to have transportation to get to and from their accommodation and the festival site. There is free parking available at both festival hotels, as well as in the shopping center next to our festival site at the Trenton Circus Squad.

If you will not have your own transportation to get from the hotel to the festival site, contact amy@americanyouthcircus.org to be linked up with others who can help you get to and from.

*Important Change*

We have switched hotels due to poor reviews of the Wyndham Garden Trenton, which has recently changed its name to the Lafayette Yard Hotel and Conference Center and has been incredibly unresponsive in the past 3 months. We highly recommend that you make a new reservation at one of the below hotels, and then cancel your Wyndham Garden Trenton reservation.

Important numbers: Our group booking contact is Brenda – 609-656-4549.

Sponsorship

Details and Registration

Every two years, hundreds of circus youth and circus coaches gather from all across the United States for the American Youth Circus Festival. This five-day event is comprised of over 150 workshops, two showcases, and plentiful social events and community building opportunities.

Because our event is not delivered in the style of a sleep away camp where there is supervision for each child at all times, we require each youth have a designated chaperone. If you choose to come as a chaperone, you will need to purchase the adult pass which comes with access to a special strand of workshops as well as food, shows, and social events. You’ll also be asked to join as an AYCO member. You will be deeply embedded into the culture of the event as a chaperone and encouraged to participate as opposed to sitting off to the side waiting for activities to be done!

If you are a parent who wishes to attend and chaperone and do other work from our site, you are welcome to do this with your adult pass, but note there will be limited access to quiet spaces for this purpose (although we will have wifi).

Remember, if you know another person over 21 going to the event already, you can designate them as a chaperone for your child so that you don’t have to be on site! Contact amy@americanyouthcircus.org if you have any questions or concerns about this and we will help you sort it out.

Waiver

All participants, chaperones, work study and workshop leaders are required to sign a waiver.